Illustrated. 469 pp.
St. Martin’s Press. $27.95.

 

Springfield, Virginia, USA. James Tiptree, Jr. (August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was the pen name of American science fiction author Alice Bradley Sheldon used from 1987 until her death. Until 1977, no one knew that James Tiptree Jr. was a woman.

 

On May 19, 1987, at age 71, Sheldon took the life of her 84-year-old, nearly blind husband and then took her own, ending a life of great successes matched by greater personal torments.

 

Phillips’ biography shines a light on both the bright seductive surface of Tiptree’s short stories and the bleakness of Sheldon’s personal life that lies hidden in the stories’ undercurrents. Tiptree/Sheldon wrote powerful fiction that challenges readers' assumptions about sex and gender.

 

Most reviewers approach this biograghy as feminists, seeing the life of Tiptree/Sheldon as a parable of the the feminist movement. I too am a feminist but I also am a person born transsexual. Reading the pages of Phillips’ book I heard Alice’s own words strike deep inside me.